Luisa and the Witcher

"W-What? No...I'm...It's okay, I'll go right after," Luisa stuttered.

"(Scoffs)...I was just teasing you. You never cease to amuse me, shortie," he responded, opening the door to the bathroom. He entered and shut it back.

Luisa sighed, this crazy mentor of hers. She sat down on the king size bed, her mind flashed back to what happened at the forest with the wolf. She couldn't wait for tomorrow afternoon.

After some while, Zeke came out of the bathroom room with his robe on, his hair still damp and dripping of water.

"Would you prefer a separate room?" he asked her.

"No," she replied without a second thought.

"As you wish, go in now...Everything you will need is inside," he informed. She nodded and scooted into the bathroom.

He was right, everything was inside including the night gown from last time, not the one they bought today. When they were heading back to kimoira, she only took along the bodice, shirt and trousers attire which she was wearing that day. The nightgown, towels and others were neatly folded and placed on a fine stool.

Once she was done, she walked out of the bathroom in the nightgown attire, a towel wrapped on her head. Zeke was already wearing the trouser part of his night attire, the top of it was placed on a chair in the room. He sat on the bed shirtless, his back facing her.

"You're done," he uttered when he felt her presence in the room, he didn't turn to face her.

"Yes," she replied, and he finally turned to her. "Come, let me dry your hair for you," he offered.

"O-Okay," she responded.

She walked up to him and sat on a small stool in front of him. He removed the towel from her head and began to dry her hair.

"Sorry for troubling you... I-I could have done it myself. My hair isn't really too long anyway," she started.

"Yes, it's easy to dry. You never told me why you cut your hair?" Zeke questioned.

"You never asked, back then you were still so cold and indifferent to me," she replied and felt his lips on her ears as he whispers.

"Aren't I anymore?" he asked.

"Sometimes, I guess," she answered and he let out a soft chuckle.

"My long hair reminded me so much of my mother, when she used to comb and braid it. (Sighs) I needed to spot a new look. l love my hair this way, it's easier to maintain with the little amount of time and materials I have," she continued.

When he was done using the towel, he began to spread her hair with his fingers so that it could complete drying. Luisa smiled, his fingers felt so heavenly on her sensitive scalp.

"Done," he announced and she stood up. She saw the ointment on the drawer close to the bed. It was in a small stylist bottle container, he raised it up;

"Do you need help with that?" she asked.

"Yes," he responded and lied flat on the bed, his head on a pillow. She knelt on the bed close to him and started to put the ointment in his wounds which has started to heal and close up.

"I'm done," she informed once she was done and he let out a breath as he turned to lie side ways.

"You should sleep now, aren't you tired?" he asked and she nodded lying down.

Today had really worn her out. Zeke stood up to close the two sided door leading to the balcony, the room was now lilt with the little rays of light from the moon that managed to penetrate through the closed windows and the light from the fireplace which gave the room a warm heat.

With time, she shut her eyes and he watched as she slowly dozed off completely. He covered her with the blanket, he didn't want her to feel cold while sleeping, even though she was an elf and wouldn't catch a cold that easily.

He lied back on the bed and continued staring at her sleeping face, his hand reached for her face as he brought some strands of her hair away from her face. He could clearly hear the steady rhythm of her breath and heartbeats, he smiled at her.

...

The morning came too soon. Luisa just finished dressing up, this time she decided to wear one of the gowns Zeke bought for her, her medallion hung and dangled majestically around her neck.

'He always wakes up before her,' she whined in her mind. She has always wanted to see his sleeping face in the morning, in the few times that they slept on the same bed.

She didn't see Zeke when she woke up, all she saw was the clothes placed on the bed with a note that says he was waiting for her at the dining room. She shut the door and walked down the hallway towards the stairs. Chandeliers decorated the high ceilings of the hallways, the place was neat and beautiful. She walked passed the last large window frame and glided down the stairs. She truly found him at the dining room, he sat down on the dining table.

"Good morning, mentor Zeke," she greeted.

"You seem excited, did you sleep well?" he inquired.

"Yes," she replied taking her seat. She was really excited to go to the Reigns today. "How's your back?" she asked

"Not even a scratch left," he replied.

"When are we going on a mission together?" she inquired.

"Soon. Just focus on how to wield your powers for now," he responded.

A lot of delicacies were arranged on the table, it was mouth watering.

"Why haven't you started eating?" she questioned.

"I was waiting for you," he answered.

'That's so sweet of you, mentor,' she thought.

"Let's start, which one would you like to have first?" he asked as he started to dish out some of the meals.

After they were done, they decided to leisure the time away taking a stroll at Zeke's garden, which was large and colorful with the different colors and varieties of flowers planted around the place.

"I never pictured you a garden lover, this is beautiful," Luisa complimented. She hasn't seen a garden this big before, it's been so long since she had seen a garden, there were no gardens or butterflies in kimoira.

"Well now you know. I find it relaxing, you could do anything here. You could paint, you could write poems, it is a nice place for muse," he replied.

"Do you paint and write poems?" she asked curiously.

"No, I only come here to take a walk. The air is fresh, it helps me to clear my mind," he replied and she nodded.

When the time finally came, they got into the carriage heading for the Reigns. The carriage stopped in front of the mansion when they got there, Zeke opened the door and gestured for Luisa to get off.

She got off; "Aren't you coming in?" Luisa asked him when he didn't get off as well.

"No, I am dropping you off then I'll go to see someone at the countryside. Don't wait up for me," he replied and winked at her before shutting the door. She waved at him and waited until the carriage drove out of sight.

"This way Miss Luisa," the butler came to welcome her. She followed him and entered into the house. The elf girl, Lindsey- Maximilian's daughter rushed towards her.

"Welcome, it's so nice to have you again. I've been so excited for your coming," Lindsey welcomed

"Thanks for having me," Luisa didn't really know how to greet or match up with this girl's liveliness.

"Of course, it feels good having an elf my age in the house, wait! How old are you?" she asked.

"Fourteen," Luisa replied.

"Oh, I'm sixteen. But it doesn't stop us from being best of friends. My father will be with us in a short while. Come, while we're waiting, I'll like to show you something" She said.

"Okay," came Luisa curt response.

The girl grabbed Luisa's hand and led her away to a hallway that was made specially for the portraits of the Reign family. The large family portraits hung on the walls on both sides, the large window frames separating the ones on the side of the windows.

"These portraits are all of the three respective generations of the Reign family, I am a fourth generation. All the generations have lived in this very mansion. This is my family portrait" she explained and they stopped in front of a large painting of Mr Maximilian, his wife and two children.

The children were a boy and a girl which was Lindsey who was older than the boy, they both had light brown hair and amber eyes which were features they inherited from the woman in the painting who was their mother, as Mr Maximilian had raven black hair and green eyes. The portrait must have been painted years ago as Lindsey looked younger.

Luisa glanced at Lindsey, a sad look was on Lindsey's face and that lively light in her eyes were gone.

"Four years ago, my family got into a carriage accident. My younger brother wasn't lucky, he flew out of the carriage door and got thrust through at the stomach by a tree branch, he died before we could even save him.

"My mother followed right after, she died of depression as she lost her will to live. (Tear up)...You know, sometimes I wonder if I wasn't a good reason for her to keep living," Lindsey explained, tears started to roll down her cheeks. Luisa didn't expect this family to have gone through such mischief.

"I'm sorry," Luisa responded.

Lindsey wiped off her tears, "Don't be. It's not your fault," she started to chuckle again.

She couldn't imagine what this girl must have been through, she was really impressed on how she could smile and talk that lively in front of others.

"I admire you a lot, I couldn't believe it when master Zeke told us about you...actually told my father who I pressured to tell me what master Zeke told him (Chuckles)" Lindsey continued.

"Master Zeke..." Luisa muttered.

"Yes, he's like a big brother to me. I've known him since I was born," Lindsey responded.

Oh, she can't believe she misjudged this girl when they first met, she was a sweet and nice person.

"An elf girl who was the very first female witcher and he told me you volunteered. How does it feel? You know, to do whatever you want? To be free?" Lindsey inquired.

"I'm not totally free," Luisa replied

"You are not as under house arrest as I am, ever since my mother passed away, my father made it worse...he has been so hard on me," Lindsey complained.

"Maybe he's trying to be protective because he's just too scared to lose you as well," Luisa replied.

"Meh, maybe you're right. How did your parents react when you wanted to volunteer to become a witcher?" Lindsey asked so curious.

"They are late," Luisa replied.

"Oh...sorry. I didn't hear that part of the story," Lindsey responded and sighed.

"It's okay," Luisa replied.

"My father said we'll paint a new portrait together and hang it on these walls," the girl smiled.

The butler walks in; "Miss Luisa? I knew this would be the first place the young miss would show to you (Sighs)... Anyway, Miss Luisa, master Maximilian will see you now,"

...